Progressive Download’s John Farrell notes brain scans that provide evidence of consciousness even in very young infants.

Drew Rowsome praises the Toronto production of the musical Fun Home, based on the Alison Bechdel graphic novel. I, for one, can’t wait to see it.

Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes that, although Proxima Centauri is far too active a star for Proxima Centauri b to be Earth-like, that world could still plausibly host life-supporting environments.

Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy suggests a recent deal at the federal level in the US between Trump and Cory Gardner has created space for states to legalize marijuana without fear of federal intervention.

Despite the explanation, I fail to see how LGBTQ people could benefit from a cryptocurrency all our own. What would be the point, especially in homophobic environments where spending it would involve outing ourselves? Hornet Stories shares the idea.

Imageo notes that sea ice off Alaska has actually begun contracting this winter, not started growing.

JSTOR Daily notes how the production and consumption of lace, and lace products, was highly politicized for the Victorians.

Language Hat makes a case for the importance of translation as a political act, bridging boundaries.

Language Log takes a look at the pronunciation and mispronunciation of city names, starting with PyeongChang.

This critical Erik Loomis obituary of Billy Graham, noting the preacher’s many faults, is what Graham deserves. From Lawyers, Guns and Money, here.

Bernard Porter at the LRB Blog is critical of the easy claims that Corbyn was a knowing agent of Communist Czechoslovakia.

The Map Room Blog shares this map from r/mapporn, imagining a United States organized into states as proportionally imbalanced in population as the provinces of Canada?

Marginal Revolution rightly fears a possible restart to the civil war in Congo.

Neuroskeptic reports on a controversial psychological study in Ghana that saw the investigation of “prayer camps”, where mentally ill are kept chain, as a form of treatment.

The NYR Daily makes the case that the Congolese should be allowed to enjoy some measure of peace from foreign interference, whether from the West or from African neighbous (Rwanda, particularly).

At the Planetary Society Blog, Emily Lakdawalla looks at the many things that can go wrong with sample return missions.

Rocky Planet notes that the eruption of Indonesian volcano Sinabung can be easily seen from space.

Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes how the New Horizons Pluto photos show a world marked by its subsurface oceans.

Livio Di Matteo at Worthwhile Canadian Initiative charts the balance of federal versus provincial government expenditure in Canada, finding a notable shift towards the provinces in recent decades.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell makes the case, through the example of the fire standards that led to Grenfell Tower, that John Major was more radical than Margaret Thatcher in allowing core functions of the state to be privatized.

Anthro{dendum} examines the politics and the problems involved with accurately representing the history of Taiwan to the world.

Centauri Dreams notes a paper suggesting not only that it is possible for a pulsar to have a circumstellar habitable zone, but that the known worlds of PSR B1257+12 might well fall into this zone. (!) D-Brief also looks at the topic of pulsar planets and circumstellar habitable zones.

The Crux reports on how some students are making the case that robotic cricket farming could help feed the world.

The Dragon’s Tales notes that an infrared search for Planet Nine, using WISE and NEOWISE, has turned up nothing.

JSTOR Daily talks about how the spectre of “white slavery” was used a century ago, in the United States, to justify Progressive reformers.

Language Hat reports on a former diplomat’s efforts to translate the traditional poetry of Najd, in central Saudi Arabia.

Language Log takes a look at the ways in which zebra finches learn song, when raised in isolation and otherwise.

Lawyers, Guns and Money argues in favour of putting up new monuments, to better people, in place of old Confederate memorials.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting that the food desert effect is limited, that if poor people choose not to eat healthy foods this relates to their choice not to a lack of options for buying said.

D-Brief examines how NASA is trying to quietly break the sound barrier.

Bruce Dorminey suggests building a Mars-orbit space station makes sense for us as our next major move in space.

Hornet Stories shares the story of queer male Lebanese belly dancer Moe Khansa and his art.

Language Hat notes how one student made substantial progress of decoding the ancient khipus, knotted string records, of the Incan civilization.

Lawyers, Guns and Money makes the obvious point that opioids actually do help people manage chronic pain effectively, that they have legitimate uses.

Allan Metcalf at Lingua Franca talks about some of the peculiarities of English as spoken in Utah.

Noah Smith at Noahpinion argues the disappearance of the positive impact of college on the wages who drop out before completing their program shows the importance of higher education as a generator of human capital, not as a simple sort of signal.

The NYR Daily looks at some particularly egregious instances of gerrymandering in the United States.

The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer examines the origins of street violence as a political force in modern Argentina.

Roads and Kingdoms looks at the Seoul neighbourhood of Haebangchon, “Little Pyongyang,” a district once populated by North Korean and Vietnamese refugees now becoming a cosmopolitan district for people from around the world.

Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes the origins of the atoms of our body in stellar catastrophes detectable from across the universe.

Strange Company notes the case of Catherine Packard, reported dead in 1929 but then found alive. Whose body wasit?

Towleroad reports a study suggesting same-sex relationships tend to be more satisfying for their participants than opposite-sex relationships are for theirs.

Window on Eurasia notes how a Russian Orthodox group is joining the fight against Tatarstan’s autonomy.